Idaho Legislature’s budget committee approves additional budget cuts for most state agencies

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The Idaho Legislature’s powerful budget committee approved additional, new across-the-board budget cuts for most state agencies and departments on Friday, a move one legislator compared to taking a chainsaw to the budget. 

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC for short, voted 14-6 to approve additional new state budget cuts of 1% for the current fiscal year 2026, representing a $131 million reduction to the general fund portion of the state budget. The additional 1% cut is on top of the 3% cuts Gov. Brad Little implemented last summer to avoid a budget shortfall. That means the total impact of the cuts is an approximately 4% cut for most state agencies and departments.

A short time later, JFAC members also voted 13-7 to approve new permanent across-the-board budget cuts of an additional 2% for most state agencies and departments, representing a $143 million reduction to the general fund portion of the state budget. That additional 2% cut is on top of Little’s 3% cuts, meaning most state agencies will experience a permanent, ongoing 5% cut to their budgets beginning in fiscal year 2027.

The additional new cuts do not apply to Idaho’s K-12 public school system, Medicaid, the Idaho Department of Correction or Idaho State Police, state budget analysts said. 

JFAC’s co-chairs, Sen. Scott Grow and Rep. Josh Tanner, both Republicans from Eagle, said the new cuts are necessary to make room to comply with the tax cuts President Donald Trump championed in the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Grow and Tanner also said they want to make cuts to provide long-term structural balance to the state’s budget, to leave a positive year-end budget surplus and to guard against additional financial uncertainty. 

“In the end, we’re just trying to give you guys a structural balance, because that’s what our job is,” Tanner said. “Constitutionally, that is what we’re required to do, and that is all we’re trying to do.”

Legislators from both political parties push back on state budget cuts

Although the Republican majority approved the cuts, Sens. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls; Jim Woodward, R-Sagle; Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise; Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise; and Reps. James Petzke, R-Meridian, and Brooke Green, D-Boise, opposed the new additional across-the-board cuts for the current fiscal year 2026. Rep. Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello, joined the other six in opposing the additional cuts for fiscal year 2027. 

“That approach is not precision. It is taking a chainsaw to the budget,” Cook said. 

Cook was not alone in opposing the across-the-board cuts.

“This is a devastating day for Idahoans – to watch all the good work that we have done in our state get rolled back to make way for more tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest among us,” Wintrow said. “They broke the structural balance of the budget last year and instead of restoring revenue, they are creating structural balance on the backs of people with disabilities.”

Woodward said the additional new across-the-board cuts are a short-sighted approach that does not address the state’s growth or focus on the long-term well-being of the state. 

“It is time to acknowledge our growth in Idaho,” Woodward said. “We aren’t trying to grow government. We should, however, maintain our quality of life. If you are frustrated with traffic now, it is only going to get worse with the decisions we are making.”

Woodward also said he worries that JFAC cut so much so that legislators could make room for a potential additional new tax cut this year. 

“What really shocks me is that we are going to see an effort to further reduce the income tax rate this session,” Woodward said. “There has been a lot of talk about budget cuts for ‘structural balance.’ In actuality, the stage is being set for another income tax cut.”

State agencies say budget cuts could impact public services

Last week, state agencies submitted a list of potential cuts and described the impact those cuts would have on the state. State officials worried the cuts could lead to furloughs for state employees, could stop the development of a new family medicine obstetrics fellowship in Pocatello and could jeopardize graduate medical education programs at a time when Idaho ranks 50th in the country for the number of physicians per capita. 

Officials with the Idaho State Public Defender’s Office and Idaho State Appellate Public Defender’s Office also expressed concern additional new budget cuts in fiscal year 2027 would jeopardize their ability to provide representation to clients as required by the U.S. Constitution. 

Additionally, officials with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation told JFAC members additional new across-the-board cuts could lead to reduced hours, closures and disrupt the popular summer outdoor recreation and camping seasons. 

The newly approved ongoing budget cuts totaling about 5% will be built into the fiscal year 2027 maintenance of operations budgets for all state agencies and departments, which JFAC will begin working on next week. 

State budget analysts said JFAC will vote on maintenance budgets Feb. 13 at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.